Cryptocurrencies might have crashed to a fraction of their January values, but they haven’t gone away. There’s a huge industry based on them – for example broking, mining and consultancy – and there is a general feeling amongst cryptocurrency holders that the 2018 falls were a temporary aberration. Give it time, and we’ll have new highs.

This raises a question about time frame. When exactly is the bull market in cryptos going to resume? Well, there are four main scenarios that I am considering:

1. Cryptos start moving up strongly at the beginning of November, as the bull market resumes. The catalyst will be Jupiter moving into Sagittarius, on November 8. The conjunction between Mercury and Jupiter on December 20 will fuel the rise.

2. Cryptos ignore Jupiter’s movement into Sagittarius, and continue to languish. It is not until late January or early February of 2019 that the new bull market starts. This follows the pattern of the last few years, where the year’s headline asset revealsed itself in January or February. In 2016 it was gold and silver miners, in 2017 it was cryptos, in 2018 the US Dollar.

3. The bear market in cryptos continues in 2019, and probably into the early 2020s. We can’t expect anything else, as the global ecnonomy moves towards the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in late 2020. Most of the alt coins disappear, but a few of the larger coins survive and prosper.

4. Cryptocurrencies never recover. It was a fad, and they all go to zero, including Bitcoin.

On the surface Jupiter going into Sagittarius in November 2018 is exciting. Jupiter is the planet of optimism, and Sagittarius the sign of speculation. The last time Jupiter was in Sagittatarius was from November 2006 through to December 2007. At the end of 2007 the financial crisis started, so Jupiter in Sagittarius had a mixed influence. However for most of 2007 the markets were OK, and it might well be that Jupiter in Sagittarius will allow the cryptocurrencies to make solid gains. Heck, we might have even hit some all-time highs!

Yet the chances of this happening are low. Not on the basis of astrology, but on the basis of experience and common sense. In the markets, once a bubble has burst, asset euphoria takes years to repeat itself. I remember the dotcom bubble, that burst in the Spring of 2000. People made and lost fortunes, and when everything when down the pan they couldn’t believe it. They thought that the halcyon days must return. And indeed there was a partial recovery over the Summer and Autumn of 2000. It seemed possible that fortunes could again be made. Then in 2001 and 2002 tech shares got smashed, and lingering hope was replaced with bitter despair.

You could of course argue that cryptocurrencies are different. Over the last nine years or so there have been many bubbles and crashes in Bitcoin, and it has always recovered. But that was before every man and his dog discovered Bitcoin. Knowledge of cryptos is in the public domain, and the investing public and well aware that they’re a dangerous asset.

The 200o dot com crash was directly related to the May 2000 Jupiter-Saturn conjunction. Jupiter and Saturn are “the great chronocrators”, the rulers of time, and as a pair they set the beat of the economic cycle. The next Jupiter-Saturn conjunction is on December 21 2020, just after Donald Trump gets re-elected to the White House. This is a hostile period for the markets, and cryptocurrencies are likely to be under the cosh along with everything else.

On a more positive note for cryptocurrencies, the 2020 Jupiter-Saturn conjunction may represent a new beginning, especially as it takes place close to the Winter Solstice, in the first degree of the sign Aquarius. It’s the dawning of the age of AI and machines, where the Internet of Things reaches its full potential. Many cryptocurrencies will fall by the wayside, but the select few will survive and prosper. And holding the right cryptocurrency in 2030 will be like holding Amazon in 2018. A lot of money to be made, but a lot of pain to get there.

In Western astrology there is a huge emphasis on Sun signs. You use a Sun sign to categorize someone. This emphasis is modern, and probably dates to the late Nineteenth Century. It was given added impetus by the advent of the Sun sign column, in the early 1930s. You want to be able to categorize someone yourself, without calculations. The Sun is the only planet whose sign you can immediately reference, by knowing someone’s birthday. At least in 95% of cases – there are issues when someone is born on the cusp, and you then need an exact time of birth to identify the Sun sign.

Aside from convenience, there is some logic in using Sun signs. The Sun is the star around which the planets revolve, and at every level its impact on our lives is massive. Yet for the vast majority of astrology’s history the Sun was not a deciding factor in describing someone’s personality and fortunes. Yes it was important, but it was also malefic – planets close to the Sun are regarded as being damaged. This is particularly the case in Vedic astrology, where all things being equal, the Sun is unfortunate. Additionally, in Vedic astrology the Moon is almost certainly more important than the Sun, in the sense that the Moon’s position at birth dictates how the nine phases of life unfold. It is also possible, in Vedic astrology, to make the sign of the Moon the first house. This system is often recommended for female horoscopes. It can also be useful when the time of birth isn’t available.

For myself, I am happy to categorize someone as a single sign. And usually I focus on the Sun sign. However I believe that there is a strong case for focusing on the Sun sign for adult males and the Moon sign for adult females. I know that we live in gender-fluid times, but the concept of male and female are intrinsic to astrology. The Sun and Mars are male planets, the Moon and Venus female. A man is likely to identify with his Sun and projects his Moon, and it is the opposite for a woman. And in my experience, it is usually not until adulthood that people start to live their gender-specific sign. A woman with the Moon in Leo and the Sun in Libra would have a tendency to act out her Sun sign in childhood and adolescence, and would only tune into her full Leo self when she hit her early 20s.

There are exceptions. Look at Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who recently made a highly emotional and subjective testimony to a Senate committee. He has Sun in Aquarius and the Moon in Cancer. His testimony showed a complete absence of Aquarian objectivity, and he was behaving as a pure Cancerian. One might argue that in spite of his education and experience, he is stuck in his childhood. Alternatively, one might look at his chart and notice that his Moon is much stronger than his Sun, and therefore dominates his personality. Then there is Margaret Thatcher, who had the Sun in Libra and the Moon in Leo. She had Libran traits, that were particularly evident in her early career, when by and large she did what she had to do to ingratiate herself with the people that mattered. But as Prime Minister, she showed herself as a real Leo – helped by the fact that her Leo Moon was conjunct Regulus, the royal star. I remember in 1989 when she announced that she was a grandmother outside Number 10, saying “We have become a grandmother”. Nice use of the royal we.

Still, when I try to guess someone’s sign, it is always the Sun sign I am trying to get right. It is instinctive, and perhaps shows that I can’t escape the Sun sign obsessed world that I am trapped in.

Venus is the natural ruler of women, beauty and love. So a range of areas come under its domain. Cosmetic surgery, interior design, fashion and style. Not to mention relationships and attraction. You can also put the welfare of women in this planet’s realm. From a symbolic point of view, these areas will prosper when Venus is strongly place. However when Venus is weak, there could be problems. And at the moment things are bad and getting worse.

Let’s track the decline in Venus’ condition.

From August 6 through to September 9 Venus was in Libra, the sign of its rulership. Overall Venus was strong, though relative to the Earth its speed was reducing – from over 1 degree a day to only 43 arc minutes a day.

On September 9 Venus moved from Libra to Scorpio. This was catastrophic. Venus moved from being in its own sign to being in the sign of its detriment.

On October 5 Venus started going backwards, from the Earth’s perspective. This brings further weakness.

On October 11 Venus makes a stressful aspect to Mars.

On October 23 the Sun moves into Scorpio, the same sign as Venus. This means that Venus is combust, being burnt up by the Sun, in a symbolic sense.

On October 26 the Sun makes a conjunction to Venus. The combusion is at a maximum.

From the beginning of November onwards, the condition of Venus slowly improves, but it won’t be until early January 2019 that it has full recovered.

Overall, October is a terrible month for anything connected with Venus. Plastic surgery should be avoided, as should large purchases on fashion and beauty. Matters are made worse by the fact that people’s taste is going to be terrible. What looks great today will look terrible tomorrow, and even worse the day after.

As for women, it is interesting that the Brett Kavanaugh crisis has broken out just as Venus’ condition is collapsing. Indeed we had Donald Trump mocking his main accuser during a rally in Mississippi. That’s really strange, a US President making light of a credible woman’s trauma just before the midterm election. It’s as if he thinks he can get away with it. Indeed actually benefit from the situation, in terms of mobilizing his base. And with Venus so poorly placed, maybe he’s right.

I’m rather late to the party, but I quickly want to have my say on the horoscope of Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, who has recently been accused of sexual assault. I don’t have a time of birth for the chart, but I’ll proceed anyway.

The first thing to note about the chart is that there are three planets in Aquarius: the Sun, Mercury and Venus. Aquarius is a sign that is widely misunderstood. It is common to describe it as being ideallistic and future-oriented, and this is because some astrologers have erroneously associated it with the planet Uranus. You also have the hype about the Age of Aquarius, that’s created an overly optimistic view. The reality of Aquarius is that it’s ruled by the planet Saturn. It’s about the positive aspects of limitation – creating structures to enshrine a rigid world-view. Such structure may be useful, as in the case of Aquarian Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, or they can be downright evil, was was seen by Nazi Germany, an Aquarian organization which came into being on January 30 1933.

Brett Kavanaugh has a view of the world, and he’s not going to change it. This doesn’t mean that he can’t be a good judge. Aquarius, for all its faults, is an Air sign. The Air signs know that other opinions exist, and that your own opinions won’t stand without good arguments. Yet I am not convinced that the three Aquarian planets are the engine of Kevanaugh’s horoscope. I am more interested in the Moon and Jupiter. His Moon is in its own sign in Cancer, and it is also in mutual respection by exalation with Jupiter in Taurus. This is because the Moon is exalted in Taurus and Jupiter is exalted in Cancer.

The Moon in Cancer provides a powerful contrast to his Aquarian Sun. It is emotional and subjective, valuing family and tradition. Then you have Jupiter. It is the natural planet of law, and the reception with the Moon makes it strong. Yet it’s also the planet of religion and morality, and this gives further evidence of subjectivity – or should I say political bias? But I doubt Kavanaugh believes that he is biased, because Jupiter makes an 180-degree aspect to Neptune, the planet of confusion and subterfuge. Additionally, Mercury in Aquarius makes 90-degree aspects to both Jupiter and Neptune. The rational mind is confounded by the porous boundaries of philosphical bias. It should be noted, by the way, that Jupiter aspects the Mercury-Neptune midpoint. Kavanaugh may be a brilliant lawyer, but somewhere along the line there is a lack of a clarity – a lack of clarity that wins him favour in certain quarters. And at the moment transiting Saturn is making a 135-degree aspect to his Jupiter, and therefore to his Mercury-Neptune midpoint. Something’s coming down to earth.

I can’t help noticing that the condition of Venus is continuing to deteriorate. It is in Scorpio, the sign of its detriment, and it is slowing down, in preparation for its retrograde movement at the beginning of next month. Activities connected with fashion and beauty should be scaled back, and it is definitely not a good time to be spending money on clothes and design.

Elsewhere, the Sun is now in Libra, where it makes an 120-degree aspect to Mars. The Autumn has an energetic start – or should I say Spring, if you’re South of the Equator. New projects and plans, which in many cases will have an inventive streak.

And as you have perhaps noticed the Moon is getting bigger, and at the beginning of the week there is a Full Moon. Something is revealed, which in the first instance might be a restraint rather than an opportunity. After all, the Full Moon is in 90-degree aspect to Saturn, the planet of limitation.

But what about Donald Trump? Right now he’s being pushed into mixing with people he’d rather not associate with. Perhaps such people get him down, or remind him of the misery of the human condition.

Anyway, here are my forecasts for the twelve signs, for the week starting on Monday September 24 2018:

Aries You don’t have to be a solo operator. There are people out there who can be very useful, if you just give them a chance. And if you’re engaged in an important task your team-building skills will be excellent. Getting results is what matters, not protecting your ego. Yet in terms of relationships, this week’s Full Moon may presage a change of gear – or is it a change of direction?

Taurus You’re moving into a stage of life where you are more dependent on other people than usual. Their decisions matter, and it will be difficult to have much of an influence. Of course it would help if you were not in a relationship, but sometimes being alone isn’t an option. When it comes to money you should avoid making expensive purchases.

Cancer The Full Moon at the beginning of the week is a serious business. You’re aware that some major forces are at work, that you can’t completely control. It might feel that the best strategy is to retreat, but instead you need to understand you role in the situation. By embracing the struggle you can start making headway. Partners are stubborn – and just because they are right doesn’t mean that they should be tolerated.

Leo In yourself you feel a new sense of vitality – you can make things happen and your strength is at a maximum. However there is no need to be in a hurry. Some things need to develop, in their own quiet way. So don’t do more than you have to. Elsewhere, those close to you are feeling tense, and their inner selves could set the pace. For your part, you should take a step back.

Virgo From a financial point of view things are moving forward at a fast pace, and the Full Moon at the beginning of the week could bring things to a head. Some Virgoans will realize that there are some things they can’t afford, and that there are planned purchases which need to be put on hold. But not being able to afford a particular item doesn’t mean that you can’t have it. Can you make it yourself? Or else buy it cheaper somewhere else?

Libra The Sun is now in your star sign, where it aspects Mars. It’s your time of year, and you’ll be able to assert yourself – in a joyful and creative way. And if you want to relax and have fun, that’s fine. Some Librans will find themselves acting as go-betweens – getting people who dislike or distrust each other to at least come to a compromise.

Scorpio In the Scorpio chart the Sun has a special connection with career. And now the Sun is moving through a low profile section of your horoscope. You’ll do your best work when you are alone, and now would be a good time to work on private projects, which may require an element of secrecy. In your domestic environment you can make some useful changes.

Sagittarius Your star sign falls on the midpoint of a favourable aspect between the Sun in Libra and Mars in Aquarius. You feel that something is changing, that your luck is moving up a notch. And there’ll be a particular moment where you need to make a decision – you need to act promptly, but with a full knowledge of the risks and rewards.

Capricorn At the start of the week there is an important configuation – the Full Moon aspects Saturn in Capricorn. For many Capricorns it’s a major event, that marks a beginning and an end. And in most cases change is not about anything external. It’s about an inner realization that you’ve changed and the world’s changed. Be nice to partners and lovers.

Aquarius From a romantic perspective it could be a good week for Aquarians, particularly if you’re female. The Sun, your relationship ruler, is making a fortunate aspect to Mars in Aquarius. If you’re single you’re attracting a new energy, if that’s what you want. In terms of your social life, you can be the centre of attention, with your friends following your lead.

Pisces You know what’s going on, better than anyone else. You can pick up the subtle emotional currents that other people miss, and in terms of money you can spot disasters and miscalculations a mile off. And it’s probably best that you keep your own counsel – outside opinions are less than helpful, and they could spoil your good judgement.

It’s the final run-up to the Autumnal Equinox, when the Sun crosses the equator. The exact moment of the Equinox is 2.54 am London time on Sunday September 23 – which is 9.54 pm on Saturday 22 September in New York. A moment of silence, when the energy of the Cosmos slips into the terrestial sphere.

On Tuesday and Wednesday there is a stressful, 90-degree aspect between Mars and Uranus. It’s a sudden, unstable energy, connected with explosions, eruptions and revolutions. Be careful in the chemistry lab!

Towards the end of the week there is a comjunction between the Sun and Mercury. Mercury moves from being a morning star to an evening star, and in the process communications could get seriously messed up.

Anyway, here are my horoscopes for the week staring on Monday September 17 2018:

Aries The big event for your sign is a 90-degree aspect between Mars and Uranus. It’s an explosive influence, and things could happen quickly. Yes, there’ll be excitement, but there could also be danger. Something that appears to be fun could so easily be a recipe for disaster – particularly if your friends are involved. Where there’s money there’s trouble.

Taurus Your sign has a reputation for being set in its ways, for wanting things to go on forever without changing. However things are changing, and at some level you realize that the pace of life can’t go on in the same old way. At work you can cause a stir – and in the process you can benefit from other people’s confusion. Technology may be the key.

Gemini There’s something you want to do and you want to do it now. But wait for it! You’re not quite ready for the big shift, and you need to make sure that loose ends from the past are all sorted out. And that probably means spending time at home. Yet thoughts coming from nowhere could be signposts to the road ahead, and you need to be properly prepared before the journey starts.

Cancer Do you forgive or forget? Cancerians have long memories and forgetting is probably not an option. In terms of forgiveness, in most cases it’s not the actions that matter, but instead the person you’re dealing with. Their flaws were with them right from the beginning, and sometimes it is better to accomodate rather than condemn. Situations change, but people don’t.

Leo The Sun makes a conjunction to Mercury. It’s something of a two-edged sword. On one hand you’re very sharp, and you’ll be able to get your message across loud and clear. However you may not listen too hard to what other people are saying, particularly when it comes to money. As a result you could miss some important details.

Virgo Your view is being blocked. There is unimportant information swimming around your environment, which you seem distracted by. And by focusing on the wrong things you could get yourself into trouble. On the other hand, if you open your eyes everything will become clear. You’ll then be able to put your plans into action, with pinpoint accuracy.

Libra At the end of the week it’s the Autumnal Equinox, when the Sun moves into your star sign. However, in those last days before the changeover it’s wise to keep yourself to yourself. You are not quite ready to spread your wings, especially as other people could be erratic. Indeed just when you think that everything is cool and calm, a storm could break out.

Scorpio The average Scorpio is fairly intuitive, and is a good judge of character. However you don’t know all the answers, and there’s plenty of scope for surprise – particularly now, when Mars, your ruler, is making a stressful aspect to Uranus. Someone might behave in a way that you haven’t calculated for. In other words, don’t make assumptions.

Sagittarius Partners are changing gear. Recently they have been ready to express their feelings and opinions, but with the Sun conjuncting Mercury there’s a change of gear. They are moving into a phase where they are becoming more reticent, and you’ll have to make a greater effort to uncover their true feelings. At work someone is in the process of making a mistake.

Capricorn It’s worth taking a careful look at your finances, and you shoudn’t be afraid of tackling complicated issues. That way you have some chance of bomb-proofing your assets. Elsewhere, you should avoid having or developing personal beliefs – at least in the short term. Your false assumptions could turn out to be very expensive.

Aquarius Watch what you’re doing! In your rush to get things done you could leave a trail of chaos. Perhaps you just won’t know what’s going on, and you won’t see what impact you’re having on other people. Be particularly careful when dealing with members of your family – this week they are sensitive, and in certain situations explosive.

Pisces You feel that you need outside support, and that you shouldn’t take the initiative. But what have other people got that you haven’t, particularly this week? Very little actually, and if you do rely on someone else you could be led into a difficult situation. Do things for yourself, and be ready to take responsibility for the consequences.

If you’re looking at a chart for the first time, you want to get a quick impression. You might look at the signs of the Sun, Moon and Ascendant. Or the broad shape of the chart – for example, the majority of the planets might be above or below the horizon. Another entrée is through the four elements, of Fire, Earth, Air and Water. The Fire signs, by the way, are Aries, Leo and Sagittarius, the Earth signs are Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn, the Air signs are Gemini, Libra and Aquarus and the Water signs Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces. One looks at the signs that the planets are in, and does a count. When doing the count one only includes the seven traditional planets, namely the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The nodes, the angles, the outer planets and asteroids are not included.

Let’s take the example of Donald Trump. He has two planets in Fire signs, which are the Moon in Sagittarius and Mars in Leo, no planets in Earth signs,two planets in Air signs, (the Sun in Gemini and Jupiter in Libra), and three planets in Water signs (Mercury, Venus and Saturn in Cancer). Donald’s blank in Earth is interesting. He is a man who is apparently obsessed with money. He boasts about his wealth, and he has a particular obsession about real estate. Isn’t this a contradiction?

Well, you have to consider the possibility of over-compensation. H doesn’t have any Earth in his chart, so he goes overboard on what he lacks. He looks for Earth in a surface sense – by buying property and talking up his business acumen he feels more comfortable with this missing element. Yet he appears to have little contact with the soil itself, unless you count his carefully manicured golf courses. And despite his appeals to the values of ordinary Americans, he keeps his distance from the messiness of the real America. Indeed The Washington Post wrote that Donald “reportedly will not press a ground-floor elevator button on the principle it is the most frequently touched”. It also quoted his book “The Art of the Comeback”: “One of the curses of American society is the simple act of shaking hands, and the more successful and famous one becomes the worse this terrible custom seems to get… I happen to be a clean hands freak. I feel much better after I thoroughly wash my hands, which I do as much as possible”.

There is then the issue of pets. Apparently Donald Trump doesn’t have any. That in itself is not a bit deal, until you look at previous occupants of the White House. They all have pets, pretty much. Even Barack Obama, who got a Portuguese Water Dog when elected. Yet Donald Trump, uniquely among modern presidents, has no pets whatsoever. I would connect this with his lack of Earth. He does not want any animal earthiness in his life, and he wouldn’t appreciate it if an animal friend licked his face or defecated on his beautiful golfing greens.

By contrast, the French President Emmanuel Macron has a reasonable amount of Earth in his chart, with the Moon in Taurus and Saturn in Virgo. He also has Fire in his chart, with the Sun, Mercury and Venus in Sagittarius and Mars in Leo. Macron’s only Water planet is Jupiter in Cancer, and he has no planets in the Air signs of Gemini, Libra and Aquarius.

So how does one interpret Macron’s lack of Air? On a superficial level, one might link a lack of Air with a lack of intelligence, but clearly that would be nonsense. People with no Air can be super-intelligent, and by all accounts Macron’s intellect is at the top of the range. One therefore needs to look a more deeply into the matter. Air is the current which moves things around, which allows ideas to shift from one place to another. An Air person is likely to be intellectually flexible – which is not the same as being intelligent. They can switch between different subjects, and change their opinions at the drop of a hat. As a result, Air people can lack intellectual depth.

Emmanuel Macron, with his lack of Air, is unlikely to be intellectually flexible. He has a set of ideas that he believes in, and he has developed a set of arguments with which to defend his position. This means that he can say to himself that having considered all other arguments, he knows that he is right. Such a view of Macron is corroborated by other factors in his horoscope. With four planets in Fire signs he has a natural intuition, that tends to make up its mind without pondering the pros and cons of the situation. He also has a close conjunction between the Sun and Mercury, in Sagittarius, meaning that his capacity for self-questioning is overwhelmed by his ego. Macron also has the Moon in Taurus – suggesting inflexibility. The man will be right until he’s wrong and then he’ll crash and burn.

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Yes, I do. If you have got a question that needs answering, I'll help. If you're just curious about astrology, I'm probably not your person. My approach is traditional but non-spiritual, and I don't sugar-coat the message. My fee is $75 for a 1 hour phone or Skype consultation.